The Buzz: Kahunas to open second location

Kahunas Mongolian BBQ & Sushi has been doing a brisk business downtown on Market Street for four years.

Kahunas on Market Street, near Jiffy Lube, went into a building that had seen its share of eateries over the years — most recently Eddy’s Grill before Kahunas came — and stopped the revolving door.

Now Kahunas is opening a second location, in a building that also has housed numerous restaurants through the years.

Kahunas will open in the former Bricks Roadhouse in the Shasta Center on Churn Creek Road. Kahunas has announced the news on its website, which says the new location should be greeting customers by summer.

Kahunas also has applied for a license to sell alcohol. The notice is posted on the front window of the new location.

Bricks opened in April 2015 and lasted a little over a year before it closed.

Before Bricks, Duke’s Steakhouse & Saloon, formerly known as Cool Hand Luke’s, had been in the building for nine years.

Other restaurants that have served there include Jimmy's Bar and Grill, Ruby Tuesday, Sweetriver Saloon and JD Bennett’s.

News of Kahunas’ arrival has been buzzing in the Shasta Center.

“It’s awesome; we love Kahunas,” said Victor Hnyp, who co-owns NorCal Brewing Solutions in the Shasta Center. “Everybody here is planning on gaining weight.”

I called Kahunas on Friday morning and had not heard back by the afternoon.

Shakespeare, jazz coming to Riverfront Park

An under-used outdoor amphitheater will be brought to life later this year.

Riverfront Park, just west of the Sundial Bridge along the Sacramento River, will host Shakespeare in the Park this summer and a music festival in the fall.

Both events got a financial boost last week. They were among 19 winners that got a combined $50,000 in Redding Cultural District grants funded by the McConnell Foundation as part of the philanthropic organization’s commitment to downtown and the new cultural district.

The Shakespeare festival received $4,500 to stage "Twelfth Night." The music festival, dubbed “Sundial Music Festival: Celebration of American Music,” got $2,995. Dates for each event are to be determined.

Other winners included a selfie pop-up booth in the Promenade in downtown Redding ($1,000), Redding Fashion Week ($4,000), an LGBTQ festival ($2,500), a web series, “Back Pages: LOLA” ($4,500), and downtown walking tours ($400).

And, on the heels of Redding hoisting its new city flag, Erin Friedman received $1,000 to come up with a city song.

Shakespeare in the Park will be a four-day event over two weekends in June, said Carolyn Murray of Spiritus Productions.

“We are very excited to work with her and have something in that space,” said Debra Lucero, executive director of the Shasta County Arts Council.

Murray teaches English literature at Simpson University, where she started a theater program in the 2000s before returning to the school this school year.

Melody Fickes, a former Simpson theater student, is Murray’s partner at Spiritus. Murray’s husband, Jason, does set construction, and her son, Jamie, does sound and music.

“This looks so amenable to a really great public experience,” Carolyn Murray said of Riverfront Park.

Murray envisions bringing in other North State theater groups to help make this an annual event. Her background includes an assistant director at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley and a production assistant for Playwrights Foundation in San Francisco.

Auditions for “Twelfth Night” are March 2-3 at Old City Hall. Email carolynmurray220@gmail.com for more information.

For the record, this week’s “Buzz” teaser video says Murray will stage “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” But I spoke with Murray after we shot the video, and she said they decided to do “Twelfth Night” instead.

Meanwhile, Chico resident Ray Laager, who helps put on the Nor-Cal Jazz Festival each year, is promoting the American music festival at Riverfront Park this fall. Jazz, blues and country will be played during the one-day event.

Laager remembers the music festival at Riverfront Park held in 2014 to help commemorate the Sundial Bridge’s 10th birthday.

“We were really amazed when we there a couple of years ago,” he said. “I’d like to see it used more and more, and plus the city has been cleaning it up. It looks great.”

Anselmo Vineyards: Still no sale

Last May, a deal to purchase Anselmo Vineyards was pending.

Nine months later, the winery is still owned by Phuong Pham of Seven Hill LLC, who bought the business and surrounding property in 2014 for about $9 million from Reverge Anselmo.

More: Potential sale of Anselmo Vineyards moves forward

Reni Della Maggiore, the Stockton-based real estate agent who’s had the property listed, wouldn’t say last week if the winery is still in escrow or if the deal had fallen through. The property had been listed for $20 million.

Maggiore in May said, “Deposits have been made and the buyers are doing their due diligence.”

Meanwhile, the winery is still closed as it continues to work toward getting the necessary permits and certificates of occupancy. The chapel, commercial kitchen, conservatory and southern restrooms are among the buildings that need permits.

Anselmo Vineyards also is revising its water-delivery system, which includes installing hydrants for fire-suppression.

“I know the hydrant system is installed,” said Dale Fletcher, the county’s building official.

Fletcher said the county is waiting for some paperwork from the engineer.

Once the hydrant system goes online and the potable water system is checked off, the winery can operate on a small scale, including opening the wine-tasting room.

“So we are pretty excited that this is getting close to opening real soon,” Fletcher said.

 How soon really at this point is up to the winery.

A smaller Sears?

Like the Mt. Shasta Mall in Redding, the Meadowood Mall in Reno is redeveloping the building that houses its Sears store.

More: Plans call for a Mt. Shasta Mall without Sears

Plans in Reno call for the Sears store being split into three spaces, but a smaller version of Sears would remain in place, the Reno Gazette-Journal recently reported.

A portion of the redeveloped Sears building in Reno would feature a bowling/entertainment center.

Could a downsized Sears be in the Mt. Shasta Mall’s future?

At this point, neither the mall nor Sears is commenting.

We could find out more Tuesday when the Redding Planning Commission considers the Sears redevelopment project.

Stay tuned.

Reporter David Benda can be reached at 225-8219 or david.benda@redding.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidBenda_RS.